All The Dogged Innocence
by Bluestocking Inc
Summary: "They had been waiting for the announcement of her execution since she had been taken." Dark. 752 words. One shot.


_WARNING:_ Character death. And lots of it.

Listening: "The Graveyard Near The House" by The Airborne Toxic Event

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The tides have receded farther than any living soul can remember. The grief alone would make it hard to breath, but it's clear to all involved that the air itself is thinner. Minor earthquakes shake the world; there are no injuries, but quite a few building are declared unsafe. There is no wind, not today, but at the moment of her death, a thousand fires spontaneously go out. The world is plunged into darkness.

They had been waiting for the announcement of her execution since she had been taken. An elaborate plan, formed by the best warriors in the world, was hatched and put into place in a matter of hours. And when Amon himself announced the verdict of her mock trial, nobody was surprised. Her death warrant invigorated entire nations. Riots brought strong cities to their knees. Thousands of benders and bending sympathizers were arrested and - if the rumors were true - tortured in the following days.

A week later, Amon was back on the radio. He gave a quick report of recently subdued violence in the Fire Nation, and then his voice became grave. Filled with mock grief and genuine exhaustion, he delivered the news: the Avatar Korra had died in an escape attempt.

No one was sure if it was true until they hoisted her body in front of Avatar Aang's statue. Hundreds of citizens from all four nations made the pilgrimage to pay their respects, her parents among them. Mako, Bolin, Tenzin, and his family were not.

It remained there for a few days until a freak tidal wave washed it out to sea. The spirit world has a habit of taking care of its own.

An Avatar had never died so young. The world was unsure how to react, and the sudden military state Republic City was unwillingly thrust into did not help anything. With a few exceptions, people slunk away. Public outcry turned into hushed whispers turned into resentful acceptance. Almost everyone knew of and supported the underground rebellion, but few were willing to help. Strong megacities were falling to the Equalists' power every day. What chance did they have?

Against Mako's wishes, Bolin enlisted right away. He managed to defeat an entire battalion of chi blockers before he was publicly executed. His body was given to his brother in a show of what was shown to the world as mercy and but was meant as humiliation. Mako threw the first punch.

After rushing Pema and their children out of the city, Tenzin focused primarily on the tactical part of the uprising. Air was an important element in the war against being touched, and he was urged to reconsider his nonviolence pact far too often. The only battle he participated in was the very last one, where he kept Amon busy long enough to ensure the rebel's a bloodless victory. After participating in a few of the restoration councils, he and his family moved back onto Air Temple Island.

Mako was given the honor of executing Amon and a few other high ranking officers. He survived, but that did not last very long.

Asami initially fought with her words. The idea of a powerful nonbender allying herself with the resistance was enough to sway a few on the borderline. And her hand to hand combat skills were especially valuable, considering most chi blockers hadn't been trained outside of quick jabs and punches. Her policy of maiming instead of killing led to the capturing of many high ranking soldiers in Amon's army. It also made her sympathetic to former Equalists after the rebellion, and she campaigned for leniency in their sentencing. It was met with mixed results.

Accounts varied as to whether Korra was in the Avatar State when she died, or whether her 'escape attempt' had been as unprompted as Amon had implied. But across the Earth Kingdom, in a bustling metropolis known as New Omashu, a boy with unusually bright blue eyes was born to two non-bending parents. At the age of six, he showed an unusual prowess in both fire and earth, and the world rejoiced anew.

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If you have any feedback or notice mistakes, please review. Thank you for reading. Sorry it's so depressing.


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